July is Over...

Transfers happen on Thursdays every six weeks.. The new missionaries come from the MTC on Wednesday. Transfers are on Thursday. We drive to Tulsa. A van picks us up, and drives to one of five transfer points. Bentonville, Branson, Springfield, Joplin, Tulsa, and Springdale are all the transfer points. We're closest to Tulsa, so we drive to Tulsa. Transfer week is going to be a little different from here on out. Here's how it works:

Monday: We have District meeting. No P-Day (Preparation Day) on transfer week anymore.
Tuesday: We get transfer calls.
Wednesday: It's our P-Day (Preparation Day). Our day to pack.
Thursday: Transfers.
Friday-Sunday is the same as usual.

This week was awesome.

We had District Meeting in another City than usual because our Mission President was doing interviews. We had a personal interview with both President and his wife. They were both amazing spiritual experiences. I was able to see two of my previous companions. It was good to see them.

After interviews. my companion and I talked with a member. While we were talking to him, a guy we had never seen before came in. He talked with us and wanted to be taught. We went into another classroom with him and we taught him the Restoration. He is awesome. He plays the piano really well, he likes classical music, and he wants to be a chemical engineer after he graduates high school. He knew a lot already about our church because he was taught a long time ago. He actually remembered the first part to "Praise to the Man" on the piano, although he hadn't heard it in 4 years. He played it in a different key, but he knew the first part. He really liked what we had to say, and he promised us he'd read and pray about it. It was cool. :D.

Another day we had a wonderful day with our Branch Mission Leader.

My companion and I gave talks on Families and Temples in Sacrament Meeting. It took us a long time to write them because we didn't have that many experiences with temples, and it is a broad subject. I finally talked about the history of temples to the Israelites. My companion talked about the sealing power. The branch members congratulated us afterwards for the talks.

It was a wonderful week!

News from the Mission!

There's one set of missionaries for every ward...except combined areas, and Springfield YSA....they have two sets.

This past week we had a ward chili cook off. My companion got first place with his mother's recipe, A ward member got second, and the Young Men got third. It was a fun time. At the end of it, we helped clean up, I was talking with a visitor who knows how to play the piano real well...we showed off our skills with each other. It was fun. We even "improv"-ed for each other...don't know how to spell improv as in improv show, or whatever, so...yeah.

On Saturday, we went to a baptism that was three hours away. Sad fact is, that's about how far my closest area is ;(...oh, well. It was a really fun day. We had Hardee's for dinner. On Sunday, we had dinner at the home of one of the families in the ward...It was so funny. I love that family so much.

Our district meeting was awesome. On set of elders didn't show, and neither did the Zone leaders...a third of our district was gone! It was a great meeting, none the less. It marvels me how big our district is. Our district is about as big as one of the zones in our mission.

Transfers, Snow, and Car Problems!

Transfers came and went! Over half of my district changed. I have five members of my district left...along with some other people that I know. :j. I got a new companion. He's pretty cool.

I'm pretty excited for this transfer...the sister missionary from my grandparents hometown is going home, though...and another sister missionary is going home, too...They're some of the coolest sisters in the mission.

There is a senior couple in my district, that knows my aunt, grandma and grandpa. :D

We had our first snow for this year. It also went down to 12 degrees Fahrenheit here...and our car broke down in the middle of the week...so we had to walk around everywhere. That was fun :j.
We had a wonderful time at a district outing. The members helped us a lot when our car broke down, also.

Transfer = New Responsibility

I'm the furthest away from the mission office that I can get in the mission...It's pretty fun to be here.

Transfer days are always on a Thursday. Just count every six Thursdays and that's transfer day. Transfers start around 6:30-7 and go until around 4-ish.

I am now a district leader.  As district leader, I can set up exchanges with any elder in my district (besides the zone leaders), I have to collect indicators every Sunday evening and write them down...and then send the info received to the zone leaders. I have to prepare for district meetings every Wednesday...except for this Wednesday and next. We have a zone conference and a mission conference these next two weeks. So...a lot. I was the district leader's companion for two transfers, so I know how to do many of the things.

My district consists of three wards and three branches.  My new area is pretty cool. It's a lot like one of my previous areas, only bigger. We have a railroad crossing right in the middle of the city. We have some awesome members. We have had a Christmas party, and Stake Conference.

My new companion has red hair. He loves to tract. He's from Utah. He's been out for 3 transfers (4.5 months), and he's stayed in this area for all that time.

Saying Goodbye...and Star Wars!

Saying goodbye to a wonderful family :(

Saying goodbye to the Frisbee players :(

Saying goodbye to the Kickstart tower.

(Don't worry, I didn't really like the taste of Kickstarts.)

I put only one can on this 319 can tower.

Saying goodbye to FHE with the YSAs.

Saying goodbye to my district

Finally, Cool Star Wars shirt with flowers!

My District...

We have a new missionary in our district who is older than me. It's so weird. It's also weird that I am still eighteen. I'm the youngest in our district.

The sister missionary from Morgan, Utah (where my maternal grandparents and some of my cousins live) is in my district. We talked about my cousins. It was pretty awesome.

My New Companion...

My new companion is from Riverton, Utah. He is an awesome district leader. He loves music. He plays the guitar and he is learning how to play the piano. He's served in my first area before, so we like to talk about the ward. He was in my first district. He's only had five areas in his mission. (I've almost had more areas than him. It's funny.) He became a district leader/trainer his last transfer, and he's been in our area for one transfer so far. He loves the mission a lot.

Our District is Splitting...

Our district had a district meeting a few weeks ago because nobody was getting transferred. It was awesome.

I love today. We're "going fishin' in the Mississippi River" * (Jk....we're fishing in Poteau ;j) with the rest of our district as a last HURRAH! Our district is getting split because of another district that needs another group of elders to have a district meeting. We'll miss them, but they'll do well in that district.

*The "We're going fishin' in the Mississippi River" is in reference to the lyrics of the finale in "Tom Sawyer, the Musical" that I participated in during my senior year of high school.